Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The eINDIA Awards aim to honour the distinguished professionals and institutions working in the domains of e-Agriculture, e-Governance, Digital Learning, eHealth, Telecentre, and Municipal Information Technology (IT). The awards aim to recognise exemplary and innovative projects which demonstrate the use and application of information and communication technology (ICT) that have transformed social development opportunities into a sustainable social enterprise. The eINDIA Award programme is held annually alongside the eINDIA conference proceedings and are open for all national and international government organisations, civil society organisations, bilateral, multilateral development organisations and enterprises.Nominations of individuals, organisations, and institutions are sought in the following 6 award categories:Award Catagories for Nominations in e-Governance -

Ranking of rivers on the basis of length and direction (west to east ,north to south etc) is a frequently asked question in UPSC prelims. One should also have a good idea about the important international rivers. Ensemble’s Geography through Maps is a good book to follow even for non-geography optional students.

One should look up all important straits in Atlas and in fact referring atlas should become an important part of reading newspaper.Whenever and wherever one encounters the name of any place or country that one cannot place geographically ,one must immediately look it up in Atlas and don’t stop there,go a step further by looking up nearby countries,mountain ranges,rivers and also whether any tropic or equator is passing through it.This will make the learning more complete and can very well make make the difference.

Friday, September 25, 2009

The Maoists on Friday claimed they have been able to establish control in nearly 5,000 villages and around West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia in the ongoing bat le with the security forces n West Bengal. Speaking exclusively to his newspaper, one of the Maoist leaders wanted most by the security forces, CPI Maoist) politburo member Kishenji, claimed that the "Maoists have established people control in areas like Lalgarh, Goaltor, Shalboni, Belpahari, Balrampore, Sorega among others".

He said they now plan to "levy taxes" on any big companies operating or coming up in these areas."Generally we levy between eight to 10 per cent taxes on the big companies operating in areas controlled by the Maoist government," Kishenji revealed on the phone. While rejecting the state government's terms to come to the negotiating table and giving up their arms, Kishenji said, "Before any talks we also want the release of all Maoist prisoners from jail."

The Maoists also want those arrested in the Lalgarh operation freed without delay. Kishenji claimed that in its protracted war against the state, the Maoists have established themselves strongly in at least 50 per cent of the districts in Orissa, 60 per cent of the districts in Chhattisgarh, 25 per cent in Bihar, 10 per cent in Maharashtra and 25 per cent in Andhra Pradesh.

He claimed the Maoists still have a considerable presence in north Andhra.Though he admitted that the arrest of the other politburo member, Kobad Gandhy, "is a blow to the outfit", he, however, claimed this "will not hamper our work".

Kishenji, also a member of the CPI (Maoist) central committee, is in charge of Assam, Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal. He had been instrumental in the resurgence of the Naxalite movement in West Bengal.In Orissa, he claimed that the Maoists have established total control in Malkangiri, Korapur, Raigara, Ganjam and other adjoining areas. Speaking about the so-called "revolutionary activities" of the outfit, Kishenji claimed the organisation was getting its supply of arms mainly by looting police armouries or snatching them from security personnel. He also admitted the outfit was getting "revolutionary help" from groups like the Manipur People's Army and Ulfa in the Northeast. In fact, he said.

the CPI (Maoist) and Manipur Revolutionary Front have signed a "memorandum of understanding". He claimed that in West Bengal the Maoists were looting arms from CPI(M) activists. Kishenji maintained that in Bengal it's virtually a war between the "people (read Maoists)" and the CPI(M) cadre.

"The People's Liberation Guerrilla Army have been getting 50 per cent of their arms from the CPI(M) cadre. During the encounters we take away the arms of the slain and fleeing CPI(M) men." He claimed the people of these West Bengal districts have been "providing money and food for the PLGA members fighting for their cause". He said a major chunk of Rs 5 crores recently looted from a van carrying the amount to a Tata unit in Ranchi was being pumped into Bengal.

Kishejni maintained that the Maoists, who are reestablishing themselves in Bengal, have also been in constant touch with the state's intellectuals and the media. Ridiculing Union home minister P. Chidambaram's remarks that the government "will flush out the Maoists", the Maoist leader said: "Flush us out and do what? Deport us? We are living very much among the people."

He also rejected the Centre's proposed rehabilitation package. "We need no charity from the government," he said.He refuted the government's claims that nearly 30 Naxalites were recently killed by a Cobra unit in Chhattisgarh. "It's a lie.

While three of our comrades were martyred, 15 Cobra jawans, including two assistant commanders, were killed in the encounter with our comrades," he claimed and accused the security forces of shooting tribals in Chhattisgarh and declaring them to be Maoists.

A LARGE number of "experts" have written numerous articles after India's strategic nuclear submarine, Arihant, was launched on July 26, 2009 by Mrs Gursharan Kaur, wife of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Also, nuclear scientists proudly unveiled the "half boat", or the shore-based miniaturised nuclear reactor, at Kalpakkam on July 29, 2009.

Earlier, in February 2008, the Defence Research and Development Organisation made an unprecedented announcement in the press about the testing of an SLBM (submarine launched ballastic missile).In my opinion, the unnecessary publicity given to these three events should have been avoided.

The nation -- in keeping with worldwide practice -- should have announced only the commissioning, post-successful sea and weapon trials of the Arihant, which is the first in its class.

Unfortunately, in a hurry to get individual achievements lauded, a lot of premature and needless publicity was given. Hopefully, this project will fructify as planned, without the recent "fizzle" controversy surrounding our 1998 thermonuclear test.

This article tries to explain, in simple terms, the unclassified, but misunderstood mysteries of a nuclear submarine.

Let us begin with the miniaturised reactor (known as PWR or pressurised water reactor, similar to the light water reactors, being imported for civilian power plants after the Indo-US nuclear deal of 2008).Common sense dictates that a submarine crew living, eating and working within 20 to 50 metres of the submarine reactor needs to be "safe" from radioactive materials, that is, alpha and beta particles and gamma radiation. Hence, the submarine reactor must be safe, simple, rugged and capable of operating in all situations that a nuclear submarine encounters on surface and underwater.

Secondly, it must be silent. This stealth is achieved by ensuring that the number of pumps, specially the PHT pumps (primary heat transfer pumps), that re-circulate the "closed" first loop radioactive water between the reactor core and the steam boilers, are reduced to a minimum or, in some cases, not used at low submarine speeds by having a "convection system" which does the work of the PHT pumps.Till the '70s, nuclear submarines used two reactors, each with steam boilers and PHT pumps for redundancy though these added to the radiated noise.

But once reactor reliability was established, most advanced nations now use a single reactor for more silent operations. Theoretically, a single reliable PWR reactor, with a single steam boiler and a single PHT pump, would produce the least noise.

The second issue mentioned by "experts" is the reactor life and how the Americans have been operating their ninth generation submarine reactors with 25-year life spans, as compared to the rest of the world. Our "experts" should remember that the world's first nuclear submarine, the American USS Nautilius, had a reactor core life of only two years.There is no doubt that the Americans are 50 years ahead of India in this regard, but we must understand that a safe submarine reactor requires a combination of metallurgy and enriched Uranium-235 (U-235) to achieve longer reactor life. And this data is a closely-guarded secret for obvious reasons.

Some articles in the Indian media, about using 80 to 93 per cent enriched U-235 in a submarine reactor core, are incorrect.

This use of weapon grade U-235, may, under some emergent situations, "convert" a reactor into a fission bomb by making the transition from "critical" to "super critical" stage during operations.

We should be happy that our scientists have made a submarine reactor (irrespective of whether it is a few generations behind the Americans and Russians). The important thing here is to see how the reactor operates in harbour and sea trials. Based on this initial experience, improvements can be made to the life and stealth qualities of this reactor.

The third issue mentioned by the "experts" is the reactor power and why we need an SSBN to have higher reactor power to transit at a speed of 30 knots.

Reactor power, as indicated, is thermal and not electrical (eg 100 MW is 100 megawatts of thermal power). Most SSBNs need a transit speed of below 20 knots since their task is to avoid contact with enemy warships and submarines and launch their SLBMs when ordered in a second strike.

Given our geographical location vis-à-vis our two nuclear-armed adversaries, an SSBN with a speed of 20 to 24 knots, but with SLBMs of about 5,000-km range, should suffice. It should be noted that SSNs (or tactical nuclear attack submarines), which are required to search and sink enemy warships and submarines, would need higher speeds (over 30 knots, which, depending on the SSN size, would require a single reactor of 160 to 200 MW or two reactors, each of about 80 to 100 MW).

There are a few other factors which decide submarine stealth -- improved shock mounts, "rafting" (where the reactor and machinery are not in direct contact with the pressure hull), hydrodynamic hull shape, skewed propellers or the new pump jet propulsion system, "static" electrical machinery, anechoic tiling, silent weapon and garbage discharge systems among others). Similarly, greater diving depths are a combination of metallurgy, pressure hull thickness and frame spacing (steel frames are the inner skeletons which, along with the keel, provide support to the pressure hull.

For example, an expensive titanium-hulled submarine can dive to twice the depth of a modern steel-hulled submarine.

Also, in the case of two "similar" steel-hulled submarines, the one with a thicker pressure hull and "closer, thicker frame spacing" would dive deeper, but would pay a penalty in loss of some speed.Diving depths of submarines are a closely guarded secret, as are noise figures and weapon-firing depths. A nuclear submarine also needs a system to generate oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide and other gases to enable human beings to live and operate in demanding conditions underwater. Production of drinkable sea water and the ability to get rid of garbage (food and human waste) are equally important and technologically demanding.

Our scientists and the Navy personnel involved in work on the Arihant have indeed achieved a major milestone. However, much more needs to be done, and I hope it is done without any unwise and unnecessary publicity.

In addition, India now also needs to begin work on a faster, deeper-diving SSN (tactical nuclear attack submarine) to provide its Navy with a major sea denial capability in the vast expanses of the Indian Ocean.This SSN will require a single 160 to 200 MW reactor and improved stealth and complex metallurgy. We are beginners in the field of nuclear submarines and have a lot of catching up to do before we start celebrating. VICE-ADMIRAL ARUN KUMAR SINGH retired as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command, Visakhapatnam

The Indian constitution grants its citizens certain inalienable fundamental rights. Unlike any other legal rights, these fundamental rights are protected and enforced by the constitution. It is in effect binding on the state, and protected against invasion by the executive, legislature and judiciary. Article 32 of the constitution allows any citizen of India to approach the Supreme Court if his fundamental rights are violated by the state - in Ambedkar"s words it constituted the heart and soul of the constitution.

The original unaltered fundamental rights which are involved in the issue of reservation are stated below in a chronological order:

Article 14 of the constitution guarantees equality to all "The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within territory of India"

Article 15(1): "The state shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth, or any of them"

Article 15(2): "equal access to public facilities"

Article 15(3) : "Nothing in the article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for women and children"

Article 16(1) : There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the state"

Article 16(2) No citizen shall on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, resident or any of them be ineligible for or discriminated against in any respect of any employment or office under the State.

Article 16(4) "Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of posts in favour of any backward class of citizens, which in the opinion of state is not adequately represented in the services under the state"

Article 29[2]: No citizen shall be denied admission into any educational institution maintained by the State or receiving aid out of the State funds on ground only of religion, race, caste, language, or any of them.

Bhadant Anand Kauslayayan was one of the three great activist Budhist scholars of the century .The other two being Dr. Ambedkar and a great Hindi writer Rahul Sankartyayan.Rahul in fact became Marxist later after having a long stint as a Budhist monk.Bhadant Anand Kauslayayan had long and close association with these two scholars .He also had association with Mahatma Gandhi and martyr Bhagat Singh, apart from being associated with freedom struggle in general. Bhadant was a prolific writer and he had more than fifty books to his credit, mosty relating to Buddhism . He had forty books in Hindi,few in English and he translated Dr. Ambedkar’s book on Buddhism in his mother tongue Punjabi.Bhadant was born and brought up in Punjab, before moving on to various parts of the country and abroad as Buddhist monk.He finally settled down at Nagpur and for long years he lived at Diksha Bhumi, where Dr. Ambedkar adopted Buddhism in 1956,few months before his death .He planted a tree from Sri Lanka at Diksha Bhumi in seventies ,which has grown into a fully developed shadowy tree now. Bhadant had such charming personality and integrity that a Parsee family in Nagpur donated his eight and half acre land on Nagpur -Howrah highway near Kamti to Bhadant for establishing Buddhist centre.Bhadant spent last years of his life there and now a memorial is under construction at that place . Very few people in this region are aware of the significance of this internationally renowned Buddhist scholar .Bhadant was born in Sohana village ,adjacent to Mohali,,few miles from Chandigarh .His childhood name was Harinam Das ,who was born on 5th January 1905.His father Lala Ram Sharan Dass was a school teacher at Ambala in those days.Child Harinam spent his early days in Ambala Cantt along with his younger brother Haridas.Harinam Das’s parents died in early age and they lived with their maternal uncle .After passing matriculation in 1920,Harinam Das joined Mohindra College at Patiala,but under the influence of freedom movement and Bhai Parmanand in whose Ashram he lived for sometime, he joined National College Lahore, established by Lala Lajpat Rai.In National College ,he came in contact with revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev,etc.Bhadant graduated in 1924 at the age of nineteen years .In Lahore , he happened to listen Ramodhar Sadhu(earlier name of Rahul Sankartyayan)at.Arya Samaj temple.Later Harinam Das became active in Congress party and started working in Dalit mohallas to educate them. He started writing in Urdu papers of Lahore of those days.In the meantime Rahul Sankartyayan had gone to Sri Lanka and became a Buddhist scholar.He invited Harinam Das to Sri Lanka and after reaching there in 1928, he got initiated into Buddhism .Harinam Das got new name as Anand Kauslyayan,Bhadant was added as honorific prefix as in Buddhist tradition .So Harinam Das became Bhadant Anand Kauslyayan .From Sri Lanka ,Bhadant went to England ,where he spent two years .Rahul was also in London .During his England stay ,Bhadant also visited Germany and France .In 1934,Bhadant went to Malaysia and for two years he stayed at Sarnath near Varanasi. Bhadant had now became an established Hindi writer .Hindi Sahitya Sammelan ,Allahabad published his books –Jatak and Dhammped etc. Later in Mahatma Gandhi Ashram at Wardha in Maharashtra, Bhadant became general secretary of Rashtarbhasha Prachar Samiti and stayed there for ten years .In this period he took long travels to propagate Hindustani language as propounded by Mahatma Gandhi as lingua franca of the country. In 1952,Bhadant moved to Kalingpong .this very year he went to Japan to attend World Buddhist Conference.He visited Thailand ,Indonesia ,Kampuchia and Singapore .and later Burma.After 35 years of leaving his birthplace ,Bhadant visited his younger brother Haridas who was posted in Budhlada mandi near Bhatinda.He visited Faridkot,Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur,Patiala and Ambala.where he saw his childhood home.Bhadant came into contact with Dr.Ambedkar in 1950 and remained in close association with him till his

The origin of the Indian Foreign Service can be traced back to the British rule when the Foreign Department was created to conduct business with the Ã¢â‚¬Å“Foreign European PowersÃ¢â‚¬Â. In fact it was on September 13, 1783, when the Board of Directors of the East India Company passed a resolution at Fort William, Calcutta (now Kolkata), to create a department, which could help Ã¢â‚¬Å“relieve the pressureÃ¢â‚¬Â on the Warren Hastings administration in conducting its Ã¢â‚¬Å“secret and political businessÃ¢â‚¬Â. Subsequently known as the Ã¢â‚¬Å“Indian Foreign DepartmentÃ¢â‚¬Â, it went ahead with the expansion of diplomatic representation, wherever necessary, to protect British interests.

In 1843, Governor-General Ellenborough carried out administrative reforms under which the Secretariat of the Government was organized under four departments Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Foreign, Home, Finance and Military. Each was headed by a Secretary level officer. The foreign department Secretary was entrusted with the Ã¢â‚¬Å“conduct of all correspondence belonging to the external and internal diplomatic relations of the governmentÃ¢â‚¬Â.

From the very beginning, a distinction was maintained between the Ã¢â‚¬Å“foreignÃ¢â‚¬Â and Ã¢â‚¬Å“politicalÃ¢â‚¬Â functions of the Foreign Department; relations with all Ã¢â‚¬Å“Asiatic powersÃ¢â‚¬Â (including native princely states of India during the British Raj) were treated as Ã¢â‚¬Å“politicalÃ¢â‚¬Â and with all European powers as Ã¢â‚¬Å“foreignÃ¢â‚¬Â.

Although the Government of India Act, 1935 sought to delineate more clearly functions of the Ã¢â‚¬Å“ForeignÃ¢â‚¬Â and Ã¢â‚¬Å“PoliticalÃ¢â‚¬Â wings of the Foreign Department, it was soon realized that it was administratively imperative to completely bifurcate the Foreign department. Consequently, the External Affairs Department was set up separately under the direct charge of the Governor-General.

The idea of establishing a separate diplomatic service to handle the external activities of the Government of India originated from a note dated September 30, 1944, recorded by Lt-Gen T. J. Hutton, Secretary, Planning and Development Department of the Government. When this note was referred to the Department of External Affairs for comments, Mr Olaf Caroe, the Foreign Secretary, recorded his comments in an exhaustive note detailing the scope, composition and functions of the proposed service. Mr Caroe pointed out that as India emerged to a position of autonomy and national consciousness, it was imperative to build up a system of representation abroad that would be in complete harmony with the objectives of the future government.

In September 1946, on the eve of IndiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s independence, the Government of India decided to create a service called the Indian Foreign Service for IndiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s diplomatic, consular and commercial representation overseas.

In 1947, there was a near seamless transformation of the Foreign and Political department of the British India government into what then became the new Ministry of External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations and in 1948 the first batch recruited under the combined Civil service examination system of the Union Public Service Commission joined the service. This system of entry has remained the staple mode of intake into the IFS to this day.

Training

On selection to the Indian Foreign Service through the combined Civil Services examination, the new entrants undergo a multi-faceted and comprehensive training programme intended to give them a thorough grounding in diplomatic knowledge, diplomatic qualities and diplomatic skills. The probationers commence their training, together with their colleagues from the other All India Services, at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussourie. Thereafter the probationers join the Foreign Service Institute in New Delhi and

Haier has appointedEric Braganza as President of its India operations. He will oversee sales and marketing, manufacturing and all support functions. The present whole-time director and COO of Haier Appliances India, Pranay Dhabhai, has decided to move on to start a new venture

KUALA LUMPUR: As many as 13 Indian companies, including Reliance Industries, Infosys Technologies and Tata Steel, have made it to the list of Forbes’ 50 best-listed companies in the Asia-Pacific region.

"Our list is a mix of giant, established companies — this year that list includes Australian miner BHP Billiton, Hong Kong conglomerate Noble Group and Indian oil and gas heavyweight Reliance Industries — and smaller outfits such as Agile property Holdings, Anhui Conch Cement and digital China Holdings,” Forbes Asia said in a statement.

In the Forbes list, there are four Indian entities — Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, Infosys Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services — among the top ten firms in terms of market value.

Reliance Industries and Tata Steel feature in the top ten league in terms of sales.

The Indian league has four newcomers this year.They are: Adani Enterprises, Axis Bank, Jindal Steel & Power and Tata Consultancy Services. Among the Indian firms returning to the list include Bharat Heavy Electricals, Larsen & Toubro and Reliance Industries.

China has again outdone the rest of Asia Pacific with the most number of firms (16) represented in the league.“The mainland firms together with five from Taiwan and three from Hong Kong account for almost half of the entries, giving Greater China the biggest regional representation on the list,” Forbes said.Taiwan moved up the ranking this year and is in the third place with five companies on the list, all of which are from the technology sector. Japan and Australia share the fourth place with four companies each on the list.

Selection criteria The list included companies that have revenue and market capitalisation of at least $3 billion and a five-year record of operating profitability and return on equity.The other criteria for being in the list include long-term profitability, sales and earnings growth, stock price appreciation, projects earnings, quality of management and entrepreneurial skills. — PTI

A “combination” of data from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper or M3 (developed by NASA) and HySI (developed by ISRO) assisted the scientific team in establishing the presence and location of water molecules on the moon, Mr. Satish added. The two payloads were among 11 carried by the Indian mission.

According to a statement released by ISRO on Thursday night, HySI, which covers the wavelength region of 0.4 to 0.9 micron, “has also provided additional data in this regard [and] helped in a better understanding of moon’s mineral composition.” Analysis of data from other instruments on board Chandrayaan-1 is in progress, the press release added.

The Gas Authority of India Ltd(GAIL), later rechristened as GAIL (India) Ltd, today formally commenced a deserving celebration of its Silver Jubilee Year with the release of a special commemorative postage stamp in the national capital by none other than the President of India at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Last 25 years have been a chequered history for this Navaratna PSU under the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.

GAIL crossed several mile-stones during this period, making a significant contribution the cause of nation’s development. It helped harness new resource of energy called natural gas, which has since gained a lot of popularity. Being an efficient fuel or an industrial raw material, industries crave for gas supply and as a very environment friendly source of energy, helps keep pollutants low. GAIL pioneered laying solid gas pipeline network to facilitate carrying natural gas to far-off corners of the country leading to mushrooming of industries along the way. It set-up petrochemical plant, LPG plants, and introduced CNG supplies to vehicle and piped gas supply to houses at the mere turn of a tab just as water supply.

Here is an account of the company’s major milestones achieved since inception.

ROLE OF GAIL IN INDIAN ECONOMYServing the NationThe setting up of GAIL (India) Limited, formerly known as Gas Authority of India Limited in August, 1984 heralded a new era of natural gas in the country. GAIL is now completing 25 glorious yeas of service to the nation. Since 1984, GAIL has made significant contributions to the nation’s economy by supplying natural gas through its pipeline network for: • Generation of over 87,000 MW of power.• Production of over 145 million tones of Urea;• Production of LPG for over 7 crore households in the country.• Over 5.75 lakh vehicles in the country today running on CNG supplied by GAIL and over 7 lakh households on Piped Natural Gas (PNG) in the country• Production of petrochemicals of around 400,000 MTs which is used in the plastics industry GAIL enabled the use of natural gas as a new energy resource in the country, which was earlier being flared in the offshore fields of Bombay High.

The natural gas infrastructure of around 7,000 km. accounting for over 82% of the total pipeline infrastructure in India, set up so far by GAIL has contributed enormously to the economically and socially critical sectors such as fertilizers and power. GAIL also has the distinction of pioneering the clean fuel revolution for transport sector in the country with the introduction of CNG in Delhi and Mumbai which has significantly helped in reducing pollution levels in these two cities. The pipeline network of GAIL supplies natural gas to various sectors equivalent to 204 million barrels of oil equivalent per year, thus not only contributing to import substitution but also providing environment friendly fuel.

The natural gas infrastructure of GAIL plays a significant role in serving the nation by facilitating equitable geographical distribution of economic benefits. It provides ready market access to the domestic gas producers, making gas available to the customers including those who are remotely located, facilitating monetization and development of gas fields which are otherwise scattered and devoid of market access. The pipeline network has created choice for customers by providing cheaper, environment-friendly alternative fuel and has reduced import-dependency as natural gas has substituted liquid fuels such as Naphtha, fuel oil, etc.

GAIL has also spearheaded the spread of City Gas and Piped Gas network in the country which has helped in bringing down pollution levels in metros such as Delhi and Mumbai.GAIL’s pipeline network caters to the gas consumers in the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Tripura. In addition to supplying Natural Gas to various consumers, GAIL has also set up 7 LPG plants and a Petrochemical plant to extract value added products from gas.GAIL produces around 1.35 MMTPA of Liquid Hydrocarbon including LPG for domestic consumption. GAIL is now an integrated energy company along the natural gas value chain with global footprints.

Today, GAIL has interests in the business of natural gas, LPG, liquid hydrocarbons and petrochemicals, the latter being value-added products. The Company has also entered in telecom sector by leasing bandwidth available through the OFC which is laid along the gas pipelines for their operation and maintenance. GAIL has also diversified into exploration & production, city gas distribution and is steadily developing an overseas presence.

In the area of corporate social responsibility, one of the major projects of GAIL has been setting up of Air Pollution Related Disease Diagnostic Centres (APRDCs) in over 20 cities in various parts of the country, at a cost of about Rs. 4 crore. Under this programme, the diagnostic centres equipped with modern diagnostic amenities related to respiratory and cardio-vascular diseases and well trained medical personnel have been set up in partnership with reputed Government / trust managed hospitals / institutions to provide diagnostic facilities and treatment to the people who are not able to afford baseline investigations for diagnosis. APRDC also works as R & D for development of facilities for diagnosing suspended particles, which are known to cause acute heart diseases.

In more recent times, GAIL has initiated steam conversion project based on waste heat recovery system from GAIL’s gas turbines. This rare, multi-benefit project would not only utilize clean development mechanism (CDM) for power generation, but also lead to conservation of gas as well as increased energy efficiency. GAIL has a consistent track-record of dividend payment. So far, GAIL has disbursed dividend of Rs.6,230 crore to the shareholders including Government of India, which is more than seven times the original investment of Rs. 845.65 crore by the Government in its equity capital. Further, the Government has been disinvesting its shareholding in GAIL from time to time, bringing down its equity holding to 57.345 percent and thereby contributing to the exchequer an additional amount of Rs. 3,400 crore. International credit rating agency, Moody’s have assigned a Baa2 indicative foreign currency debt rating (1 notch above the sovereign foreign currency rating) and A3 local currency issuer rating (5 notches above the sovereign local currency rating) to GAIL (India) Ltd.

Background

The history of GAIL (India) Limited, erstwhile Gas Authority of India Limited, is closely aligned to the growth of the Petroleum Industry in India.Till the mid eighties, state-owned Public Sector Undertakings in the Upstream & Downstream Segments were concentrating on effective sourcing and utilization of the oil resources of the country. ONGC had already made important gas discoveries in the western offshore – South Bassein fields which could not be utilized in absence of gas piping infrastructure. The Government embarked upon a planned and focused development of the natural gas sector in the country.

Beginning- Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur (HVJ) Pipeline ProjectEntrusted with the responsibility of executing, operating and maintaining one of the largest natural gas pipeline projects in the world, GAIL built the 1800 km. long cross country Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur (HVJ) Pipeline at a cost of Rs. 1700 crore. It gave the Company a firm foundation to build on its capabilities and successfully take on project after project.

The Challenge of Initial years- HVJ Pipeline being the first project of its kind in the country, the timelines were stiff. The challenges included difficulties entailed in getting the project started like obtaining clearances, design parameters, documentation, finalizing global bids, setting up of basic infrastructure, long isolated stretches, 92 river crossings, 50 km. of forest, 221 land crossings, 450 km. of rocky terrain and 350 road crossings, across difficult terrains.

The HVJ pipeline network with a capacity of 18.2 MMSCMD was laid with the objective of transporting gas to Fertilizer, Power, LPG, Petrochemical plants and other industrial consumers in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi.

India, which was dependent on imports for around 40% of its fertilizer needs before HVJ came, was now almost self sufficient in its needs of fertilizer. Next major consumer was the power sector. Once the natural gas was introduced in this sector and was well accepted due to its benefits such as clean fuel characteristics, smooth handling, high efficiency, etc., its market in other sectors / industries also started developing gradually. In due course of time, the demand for natural gas grew tremendously and with it, the pipeline infrastructure has been expanded to cater to the demand.

Reaching Milestones one after anotherGas Rehabilitation and Expansion Project (GREP) In 1998-99, the capacity of HVJ Pipeline was expanded to 33.4 MMSCMD under the Gas Rehabilitation and Expansion Project (GREP) by construction of a loop line of 505 km. from Vijaipur to Dadri and increasing compression capacity of existing compressor stations and adding 2 more compressor stations at Vaghodia and Khera.

Pipelines in K.G Basin & Cauvery BasinGAIL is operating a Pipeline network of 830 km in K.G. Basin in the state of Andhra Pradesh. This includes main grid pipelines like Tatipaka-Kakinada to Nagarjuna Fertilizers crossing the country’s largest river crossings of Gautami & Godavari rivers and Tatipaka-Narsapur-Kovvur pipeline. Other pipelines include 204 km. pipeline to LANCO power project, Kakinada - BSES Pipeline to supply gas to REL power plant, etc. Natural gas is also available from gas fields in Cauvery Basin in the state of Tamil Nadu. GAIL is operating 260 km. of pipelines to make this gas available to the customers in the remote areas.

Pipelines in North-East Region GAIL is also operating 69 km. regional pipelines in Assam and Tripura. The pipelines existing in Assam supply gas to GAIL LPG plant and ASEB. In Tripura the pipelines are connecting ONGC gas fields at Agartala dome, Rokhia and Konaban. GAIL is also supplying natural gas to Tripura Natural Gas Company Limited.

Pipeline in Rajasthan GAIL laid the first pipeline in the country in desert area from Gamnewala up to Ramgarh to supply gas to RSEB’s power plant. 66 km Dandewala - Gamnewala – Ramgarh pipeline has been laid which supplies gas to RSEB.

Pipelines in Gujarat Gujarat has huge resources of natural gas. GAIL has laid pipelines in North Gujarat and South Gujarat regions to supply gas to consumers which include power plants, fertilizer plants and other industrial units. In North Gujarat, GAIL supplies gas to AEC, Ahmedabad, REL and other consumers through 145 km pipeline network. In South Gujarat, GAIL operates 257 km pipeline network in Baroda region and 252 km in Bharuch region. Major customers include NTPC Jhanore, GNFC Bharuch, GEB Dhuvaran, GEB Utran, etc. Re-gasified LNG is also being supplied to consumers in the region through these pipelines.

Dahej-Vijaipur Pipeline (DVPL) GAIL laid down 610 km Dahej-Vijaipur pipeline to supply re-gasified LNG from India’s first LNG terminal at Dahej to consumers in Western and Northern India. This pipeline of 23.9 MMSCMD capacity was commissioned in March 2004, 6 months ahead of schedule. International Project Management Association (IPMA) adjudged DVPL project as winner of “Silver Medal” in Mega Projects category in IPMA World Congress Meet-2006 in China.

Other Pipelines along HVJ Further expansion of HVJ network consisted of laying pipelines for augmenting the gas supplies to existing as well as new consumers. 139 km pipeline from the HVJ at Thulendi to Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh has been laid, which caters to Fertilizer and industrial consumers around Rai Bareli. Another pipeline from Vijaipur to Kota (192 km) has been laid to address the natural gas demand by Fertilizer, City Gas & industrial consumers around Kota.

GAIL has also laid 85 km Kelaras-Malanpur pipeline to supply RLNG to customers in Malanpur Industrial area near Gwalior. Another pipeline from Jagoti to Pithampur (98 km) has been laid with 21 km spur line to Dewas. This pipeline caters to the demand of gas supply to consumers in Dewas and Pithampur industrial areas and will also supply city gas at Indore.

Dahej-Dabhol Pipeline (DUPL & DPPL)GAIL recently completed the 587 Km long Dahej-Dabhol Pipeline Project which is a landmark achievement in pipeline project execution, not only in India but also internationally. The project was completed without any cost overruns and in a very tight time schedule despite several challenges. The completion of this project was of utmost national significance as it has not only brought the Dabhol Power Project back to life but also provided needed connectivity across key consuming markets.

National Gas Management CentreGAIL established a world class National Gas Management Centre (NGMC) with an objective of round-the-clock marketing and control of transmission assets of the Company from a single location. NGMC deals with GAIL’s natural gas transportation and LPG transmission business throughout India in which live data is available at a centralized location for monitoring of pipeline and delivery condition of all major customers’ terminals.

National Gas Management Center, which is the first of its kind for the gas business in India, encompasses management of entire GAIL’s gas trading, transportation and LPG transmission business throughout India with the availability of live data at centralized location for monitoring pipeline parameters, delivery conditions at all major customer terminals, gas reconciliation and accounting for entire gas business.

To ensure efficient real time management and gas nominations, delivery and allocation with accurate gas reconciliation, a Gas Management System (GMS) is also available in NGMC. GMS is a web enabled system, which integrates all the shippers, suppliers, customers and transporter of gas to provide better co-ordination and transparency in Gas Transportation business.

Joint Ventures and SubsidiariesApart from its area of direct operations, GAIL has formed joint venture companies for City Gas Distributions and Petrochemicals. For CNG, the JVs include Joint Ventures overseas while for petrochemicals, currently GAIL has two joint ventures in the country and is scouting for one overseas.

City Gas DistributionGAIL has already set up eight joint venture companies for City Gas Distribution which are catering to the needs of domestic and transport sector of the cities, besides industrial and commercial consumers. GAIL has ambitious plans to expand its presence in this space in the next 4-5 years. Hence, GAIL is today an integrated energy company in the hydrocarbon sector with focus on gas and beyond as reflected in its Vision statement. Recently GAIL has set up a wholly owned subsidiary GAIL Gas Limited for further expansion of its CGD and future Gas Retailing business.

LNG ImportTo ensure long-term gas-supply security from multiple natural gas sources, the company has integrated into import of LNG through Joint Ventures / Equity Participation route. GAIL has played key role in the growth of LNG markets in the country. GAIL has a 12.5% stake in Petronet LNG Limited, which owns and operates India’s first LNG regassification terminal at Dahej, Gujarat. The capacity of the terminal is shortly scheduled to increase to a level of around 12 MTPA. Long term LNG tie-up with RAS gas, Qatar has already been made for 7.5 MMTPA. This co-promoted company is establishing another LNG terminal at Kochi, Kerala by 2011-12. In addition to above, GAIL has participated in a SPV, Ratnagiri Gas & Power Private Limited (Dabhol) with equity stake of 28.33 percent with a view to source LNG and operating LNG Re-gasification terminal. This Terminal shall have a re-gasification capacity of 5 MMTPA of which 2.1 MMTPA shall be used by Power Plant at Dabhol and the remaining shall be used for merchant sale to consumers.

Overseas OperationsGAIL has equity participation in three retail gas companies in Egypt and in China Gas Holdings in China, participating interest in offshore blocks in Myanmar and one onland block in Oman. GAIL is pursuing business opportunities in regions such as South / South-East Asia, West Asia, Russia and Central Asian Republics and African continent in the areas of exploration and production, gas transmission, CNG and city gas distribution, LNG and petrochemicals. GAIL has set up a wholly- owned subsidiary company viz. GAIL Global (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. in Singapore.

Contribution of SubsidyIn order to make LPG affordable to common man, GAIL has been contributing in terms of subsidy since the year 2003-04. The total subsidy contribution by GAIL has been to the tune of Rs. 6,566 crore.

ConclusionNatural gas infrastructure developed by GAIL over the years has touched the life of common man in many ways, be it social, economic, or environmental aspects. The development has not only supported various industrial segments like power, and fertilizer, but also helped to further expand and meet the demand in these sectors. It has also helped in improving the quality of life in the alarmingly polluted cities like Delhi, Mumbai Agra & Firozabad etc. In addition to the direct, the indirect benefits as a result of these infrastructural developments by GAIL, has helped social development in the rural areas by extending basic amenities. The overall contribution to the nation has been truly remarkable. With its robust future plans, GAIL is committed to build a green future for India.

* 3G is short for third-generation mobile telephony services.* The technology is based on an International Telecommunication Union standard called IMT-2000.* 3G phones work in higher bandwidths of 15-20 MHz, while currently available mobile phones are loosely regarded as 2G or 2.5G, and use 30-200 KHz bandwidth.* Since the bandwidth for 3G is higher, it facilitates faster, better and simultaneous delivery of audio and non-audio data. 3G networks offer download speeds of 14.4 Mbits/second and uploads of 5.8 Mbits/second.* Bandwidth is a measure of the width of a range of frequencies used while transferring data from one point to another, and is measured in hertz.* While audio data is normally associated with telephone call, non-audio data comprise e-mail exchanges, instant messaging, and downloading information, all riding on the Internet.* Now with 3G services telecom carriers will be able to provide video broadcast and other value-added services such as tele-medicine, mobile banking, stock transactions, e-learning etc, through wireless communications at a faster pace and with high quality.* Various government services (e-governance) to the masses would be facilitated through the medium of mobile phone powered by a higher bandwidth of 3G.* Acquiring 3G spectrum is expensive (Rs 1,600 crore for new licence holders according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India). So a telecom carrier would like to capitalise by ensuring widespread usage of mobile telephony.* 3G services were first launched by NTT DoCoMo of Japan in October 2001, followed by Korea in January 2002.* As of December 2007, 190 3G networks were operating in 40 countries.* There are about 225 million 3G subscribers worldwide today

PROMINENT SCIENTISTS

Abdul Kalam, Dr A.P.J.: is credited with advancement of missile technology in India. He was honoured with Bharat Ratna award on November 26, 1997. He is known as “father of India’s Missile Technology”. Elected 11th President of India.

Alvares, Luis W.: is an American physicist teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A. He won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1968 for an important breakthrough he made in elementary physics in 1960 when he discovered a new resonance particle—a discovery that shattered the then prevailing notions as to how matter was built.

Anfinsen, Dr Christian B.: of the U.S.A.’s National Institute of Health, Bethseda, Maryland was one of the three co-winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1972.

Archimedes: Greek mathematician (born in Sicily) who lived about 250 B.C. is known for the discovery of the Archimedes’ principle viz., The volume of any insoluble solid can be found by noting its loss of weight when immersed in water. He is also credited with the invention of Archimedean Screw, a cylindrical device for raising water.

Arrow, Kenneth, J.: of Harvard University, U.S.A. is co-winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics, 1972 with Sir John Richard Hicks of Oxford University. The two men are known for their pioneering contributions to general economic equilibrium and welfare theories.

Aryabhatta: (A.D. 476-520) after whom India’s first scientific satellite has been named, was a great Indian astronomer and mathematician. Among his important contributions are the recognition of the importance of the mov ement of the earth round the sun, determination of the physical parameters of various celestial bodies, such as diameter of the earth and the moon. He laid the foundations of algebra and was responsible for pointing out importance of “zero”.

Avogadro, Amedeo: (1776-1856) Italian physicist; founder of Avogadro’s hypothesis: “Equal volumes of all gases under similar conditions of temperature and pressure, contain equal number of molecules.” He also defined a molecule.

Bardeen, Prof John: of the University of Illinois (U.S.A.) is co-winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics, 1972 (with Prof Leon N. Cooper and Prof John Robert Schrieffer) for researches into the “theory of super-conductivity” usually called the BCS theory.

Barnard, Christian: South African surgeon who shot into world news in December 1967 when he completed the first heart transplant operation on Louis Washkansky.

Beadle, Dr G.: American scientist awarded Nobel Prize for medicine in 1958 for his work concerning the actual basis of heredity—the way in which characteristics are transmitted from one generation to another.

Becquerel, Henri: (1852-1908) French physicist known for his discovery in 1896 of Becquerel rays, the first indications of radio-activity; these rays were later named gamma rays. He shared Nobel Prize for Physics with the Curies in 1903.

Bessemer, Sir Henry: (1813-1898) English engineer. He invented the process for the manufacture of steel known after his name.

Bhabha, Dr H.J.: (1909-66) Indian scientist. He published important papers on Cosmic Rays and Quantum Theory. He was professor at the Indian Science Institute, Bangalore; Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission; Director, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research; President, Indian Science Congress in 1951 and presided at the Atoms for Peace Conference held at Geneva in 1956. He had many significant researches in structure of atom and contributed largely to the setting up of atomic reactors at Trombay (Mumbai).

Bhagvantam, Dr S.: is an eminent Indian scientist who has made a rich contribution to research in radio astronomy and cosmic rays. He has published more than 150 research papers and several books. He retired in October 1969 as the Scientific Adviser to the Ministry of Defence, and Director General of the Defence Research Development Organisation. He is an old-time associate of Sir C.V. Raman.

Bhaskaracharya: Born in A.D. 1114, he was almost the last great Hindu mathematician and astronomer until modern times. He wrote Sidhanta-Siromani in 1150 which consisted of two mathematical and two astronomical parts. Bhaskara anticipated the modern theory on the convention of signs (minus by minus makes plus, minus by plus makes minus). He also anticipated Kepler’s method for determining the surface and volume of sphere.

Bhatnagar, Dr Shanti Swarup: (1895-1955) great Indian scientist. He was Director of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (C.S.I.R.). A chain of National Laboratories has been established in the country due to his able organisation and unbounded energy.

Bohr, Neils: (born 1885) Danish Physicist. He was awarded Nobel Prize for Physics in 1922. He greatly extended the theory of atomic structure of devising an atomic model in 1913 and evolving theory of nuclear structure; assisted America in atom bomb research.

Borlaug, Norman Ernest: American agricultural scientist and winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1970. He was one of those who laid the groundwork of the Green Revolution.

Bose, Sir J.C.: (1858-1937) Eminent Indian physicist and Botanist; founder of Bose Research Institute, Calcutta. Inventor of crescograph which is used to magnify movements made by plants.Bose, S.N.: Eminent Indian scientist who won fame by expounding the Bose-Einstein theory, which is concerned in detection of a group of nuclear particles—named after him ‘Boson’ in recognition of his contribution to the subject; contributed to Plank’s law. Professor of physics, Calcutta University; nominated member to the Council of States. Awarded Padma Vibhushan in 1954. He died on February 4, 1974.

Boyle, Robert: (1627-1691) Irish natural philosopher; one of the founders of modern chemistry and Boyle’s law: “Temperature remaining constant, volume of a given mass of gas varies inversely as its pressure.”

Bragg, Sir William: (1862-1942) British physicist known for researches on the behaviour of crystals with regard to X-rays incident upon them. Author of the book: “Atomic Structure of Minerals”.

Cavendish, Henry: (1731-1810) English physicist and chemist; he discovered properties of hydrogen in 1766 and identified it as an element.

Chadwick, Sir James: (1891-1974) British physicist. He discovered the particle in an atomic nucleus which became known as the neutron, because it has no electric charge.

Chandrasekhar, Dr Subramanian: He was a scientist of Indian origin settled in the U.S.A., who shared the 1983 Nobel Prize for physics with an American, William Fowler. He was one of the most outstanding astrophysicist of the world.His theory of stellar evolution—the birth and death of stars—is more than 30 years old. When he first propounded his finding that old stars just collapse and disappear in the light of denser stars of low light, the world’s top-flight astronomers laughed at him and rejected his theory. A disappointed Dr Chandrasekhar left Trinity, Cambridge, to pursue his research in the University of Chicago. Over the next two decades the “Chandrasekhar Limit” became an intrinsic part of text-books on advanced astrophysics. Global recognition and awards poured in, and the 1983 Nobel Prize tops a remarkable career spanning almost half a century.

Charak: (c.A.D. 80-180) was a court physician to Kushan king Kanishka. His writings are invaluable in the study of Hindu medicine.

Charles, Jacques Alexander Cesar: (1746-1823) a French scientist of great repute. He was the first to make a balloon ascension with hydrogen. He is known for his work on the effect of temperature on the volume of gases.

Clarke, Arthur C.: He is known for his suggestion of the concept of Geostationary Orbit.

Clark Maxwell, James: (1831-79) British physicist. His theoretical work prepared the way for wireless telegraphy and telephony. His principal works include: Perception of Colour, Colour Blindness, Theory of Heat, Electricity and Magnetism, Matter and Motion.

Claude, Albert: is a biologist of Luxembourg who shared the 1974 Nobel Prize in Medicine. His field of research relates to causes and treatment of cancer.

Columbus, Christopher: (1446-1506) A well-known Italian navigator set out on his first voyage in 1492; he discovered West Indies Islands, Cuba and Bahamas; he also discovered South America in 1498.

Cooper, Leon N.: Of the Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island (U.S.A.) was one of the three co-winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics, 1972 for researches into the theory of super-conductivity.

Copernicus: (1413-1543) A prominent astronomer of Poland who discovered the “Solar System”.

Cornforth, John Warcup: co-winner of the 1975 Nobel Prize in Chemistry is a deaf professor. He is an Australian living in England. His chief distinction is mapping out the formation of cholesterols which he calls “a great discovery” and contains the key to, for instance, sex hormones.

Curie, Madame Marie: (1867-1934) Polish physicist and chemist; famous for her discovery of radium was awarded Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1911 and shared Nobel Prize in physics in 1903 with her husband and Becquerel.

Dalton, John: (1766-1844) British scientist. He was founder of the Atomic Theory and law of Multiple Proportions.

Darwin, Charles: (1809-82) was the British scientist who discovered the principle of natural selection. His famous work is “The Origin of Species”.

Davy, Sir Humphrey: (1771-1829) British chemist. First to apply electric current for the isolation of metals. Studied anaesthetic action of nitrous oxide, properties of chlorine and alkali metals.

Debreu, Gerard: Gerard Debreu of the University of California at Berkeley, who has been awarded the 1983 Nobel memorial prize in economics is known for his research on market equilibrium in which he “incorporated new analytical methods into economic theory”.Mr Debreu has expanded on a mathematical model designed by the two men in the early 1950s that confirmed the logic of Adam Smith’s “theory of general equilibrium” in which prices supply and demand tend to reach a balance within a free market economy.

Delbrueck, Dr Max: is a German-born American doctor working at the California Institute of Technology. He was one of the three American co-winners of the Nobel Prize for Medicine, 1969 for discoveries in molecular genetics.

De Vries: is known for Mutation theory.

Dhanvantri: a great physician during the reign of Chandragupta Vikramaditya (375-413 A.D.).

Dhawan, Prof Satish: He is former Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Under his dynamic leadership India entered Space Age by launching “Aryabhata”, a scientific satellite, into space on April 19, 1975.

Edelman, Dr Gerald Maurice: of U.S.A. is co-winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine, 1972. He is known for researches into the chemical structure of blood-proteins or antibodies which shield the human body against infection. He shared the prize with Dr Rodney Robert Porter of Oxford. The two Nobel-laureates were able to break the giant molecules formed by antibodies into their component sections.

Edison, Thomas Alva: (1847-1931) American inventor of Dutch-Scottish parentage. He started life as a newsboy and then a telegraph operator. His inventions include: phonograph, the incandescent lamp, a new type of storage battery, an early form of cinematography etc.

Einstein, Prof Albert: (1879-1955) was German-Swiss world-famous scientist known for his theory of relativity. He was awarded Nobel Prize for his work on photoelectric effect.

Faraday, Michael: (1791-1867) An eminent English scientist; showed great prominence in the field of electromagnetism; discovered the laws of electrolysis and wrote a number of useful books on the subject.

Fleming, Sir John Ambrose: (1849-1945) British physicist and engineer who was pioneer in the development of the telephone, electric light and radio.

Fraunhofer: German physicist. He gained prominence on the researches of ‘Light’ while performing spectrum-analysis of Sunlight; he discovered the spectrum to be crossed with some indifferent black lines. And the lines are so named as Fraunhofer Lines.

Freud, Sigmund: (1856-1939) originator of psycho-analysis, born of Jewish parents. Works: The Interpretation of Dreams; The Psychopathology of Every-day Life; The Ego and the Id; Civilization and Its Discontents.

Gabor, Dr Dennis: Who won the 1971 Nobel Prize award for Physics is a 71-year old British electrical engineer working as a scientist in the U.S.A. He was cited for his “invention in development of the holographic method”—three dimensional photography. Dr Gabor was the 16th Briton to have won the Nobel Prize in Physics. He was born and educated in Hungary. He later worked as research engineer in Germany and came to join the staff of the Imperial College in London in 1949. He invented holography in the late forties. But the science became fully developed with the coming of the laser in 1960. A holographic image is so lifelike that a viewer can see around things in a holograph by moving his head just as he looks around the real object.

Galileo: (1564-1642) Italian scientist. He was professor of mathematics. His view that all falling bodies, great or small, descend with equal velocity, made him unpopular with the orthodox scientists. He improved telescope and with it was the first man to see the satellites of Jupiter.

Gell-Mann, Prof Murray: was the recipient of the 1969 Nobel Prize for Physics. He is a teacher in the California Institute of Technology. Born in New York in 1929, Prof Gell-Mann has been the leading theorist in elementary particle research for the last 15 years. He was the 28th American to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in which the U.S.A. now leads. The Nobel Prize was given to him for “his classification of elementary particles and their interactions”.

Goddard, Robert H.: was an American who mentioned the possibility of shooting a rocket to the moon in a paper entitled “A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes” published by him in 1919. By 1926 he had put some of his ideas into practice. He is looked upon as one of the pioneers of space research.

Graham, Thomas: (1805-1914) Scottish chemist called the “father of colloidal chemistry”. He did remarkable work on diffusion of substances in solution.

Heisenberg: is known for his theory of Uncertainty Principle.

Hahn, Otto: was a German pioneer of nuclear research. He won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1944. It was Hahn who had proved in 1938 that atomic fission can be achieved by bombarding uranium with neutrons. The discovery revolutionised atomic science.

Hall, Charles Martin: (1863-1914) American chemist who discovered the modern method of extraction of aluminium by electrolysis of bauxite in 1886.

Harvey, William: (1578-1675) English physician who discovered the circulation of blood.

Herzberg, Dr Gehard: has been awarded the 1971 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for his researches in atomic and molecular structures, particularly free radicals. He is the first Canadian to win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Holley, Robert: Co-winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine, 1968, belongs to Cornell. His researches into the genetic code and its function in building protein led to the discovery of the complete structure of a transfer RNA molecule and the way it works.

Hopkins, Sir Frederick Gowland: He was an eminent English biochemist famous for his important work on proteins and vitamins. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine in 1929 for the discovery of Vitamin D.

Hoyle, Fred: is a British scientist and science-fiction writer who won the £ 1,000 Kalinga Prize in 1968.

Jenner, Edward: (1749-1823) Eminent English physician who discovered the vaccination system of alleviating small pox.

Josephson, Dr Brian: is a British scientist who co-shared the 1973 Nobel Prize for physics for “his theoretical predictions of the properties of a super-current through a tunnel barrier, in particular those phenomena which are generally known as Josephson effects”.

Joshi, Prof S.S.: He has done commendable work on physical and chemical reactions under electric discharge on active nitrogen; colloids; hydrogen peroxide; permanganates and a phenomenon called “Joshi Effect”.

Joule, James Prescott: (1874-1937) a great English physicist who first demonstrated that mechanical energy can be converted into heat.

Kepler, Johannes: (1571-1630) German astronomer. He discovered 3 laws of planetary motion that bear his name viz., (1) The orbit of each planet is an ellipse with the sun at one of the foci; (2) the Radius vector of each planet describes equal areas in equal times; (3) The squares of the periods of the planets are proportional to the cubes of their mean distances from the sun.Kepler had evolved a set of laws governing man in space with rare prescience. In a kind of allegory, he referred to the dangers of solar radiation, the need to overcome gravitational resistance, gravitational capture of spacecraft by the moon etc. What he wrote nearly 360 years ago was, however, little understood and his family was persecuted for it. His mother had to die in jail having been condemned as a witch.

Khorana Hargobind: who shared with two others the 1968 Nobel Prize for Medicine is an Indian by birth and an American by domicile. He deciphered the genetic code and later created an artificial gene.

Krishnan, Dr K.S.: (born 1898) collaborated with Sir C.V. Raman in the discovery of “Raman Effect”. President, Indian Science Congress, 1949; delegate to several international scientific conferences; Director, National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi.

Lavoisier, A.L.: (1743-1794) French chemist; established law of Indestructibility of Matter, Composition of Water and Air.

Lister, Joseph: (1827-1912) British surgeon. He was the first to use antiseptic treatment for wounds; introduced antiseptic surgery.

Lodge, Sir Oliver Joseph: (1851-1940) British physicist. He is chiefly known for his researches on radiation, and the relation between matter and ether.

Lovell, Sir Bernard: He is professor of Radio-Astronomy in the University of Manchester and is also Director of the Jodrell Bank Observatory. He remains very much in the news for tracking space-ships.

Lysenko: Author of Agro-biology, Lysenko gained fame as a Soviet geneticist. In 1948, he declared the Mendelian theory obsolete and erroneous.

Morley, Edward William: (1818-1923) American chemist and physicist best known for his work in determining the composition of water by weight.

Moseley, Henry G.: (1887-1915) British physicist who did valuable work on atomic structure, and in 1913, devised the series of atomic numbers.

Nagarjuna: the renowned chemist of Buddhist era whose works are mostly preserved in China and Tibet. A great Philosopher and Chemist. He makes a mention of crucibles, distillation stills, sublimation, colouring process, alloying of metals, extraction of copper and use of many metallic oxides in medicines. About chemistry he said, “As long as the science of chemistry prevails, let hunger, pain and poverty not torment men.”

Nag-Chowdhury, B.D.: an eminent Indian nuclear physicist, known all over the world.

Narlikar, J.V.: Indian scientist; co-author of Hoyle-Narlikar Theory of continuous creation. The theory of which he is co-author has been hailed as supplying some important missing links in Einstein’s theory of Relativity. The new theory of gravitation propounded by both the scientists, Narlikar and Hoyle, shows that gravitation is always attractive and there is no gravitational repulsions.

Newton, Sir Isaac: (1642-1727) was the British natural philosopher. He discovered binomial theorem; the differential and integral calculus. He expounded the universal law of gravitation. He is author of Principia Mathematica.

Nirenberg, Dr Marshall: is a U.S. molecular biologist who shared the 1968 Nobel Prize for Medicine with Dr Robert Holley and Dr Hargobind Khorana. Nirenberg is the author of a very simple but ingenious experiment which helped a great deal in clarifying the general character of the genetic code.

Oberth, Hermann: is a Rumanian-German Professor who is credited with establishing the experimental basis of modern rocketry. In 1923, the publication of his book, “The Rocket into Interplanetary Space” aroused great interest in space travel.

Ohm, George Simon: (1787-1854) physicist and mathematician; discovered the law known as Ohm’s Law.

Onsager, Lars: is a U.S. Professor who became a Nobel laureate in 1968 by winning the prize for Chemistry “for the discovery of the reciprocal relations bearing his name which are fundamental for the thermo-dynamics of irreversible processes”.

Paraceisus: (1493-1541) a Swiss mystic and chemist. He was the first to employ laudanum and antimony in Pharmacy.

Pasteur, Louis: (1822-95) He was a French chemist who discovered the causes of fermentation in alcohol and milk and founded the Pasteur Institute in 1888. He made researches in silkworm disease, anthrax, and hydrophobia.

Pauling, Linus: American bio-chemist. He applied the quantum theory to chemistry and was awarded Nobel Prize (1954) for his contribution to the electrochemical theory of valency.

Porter, Dr Rodney Robert: is Professor of Biochemistry in Oxford University. Dr Porter is known for his discoveries relating to the chemical structure of antibodies.

Rainwater, James: of the U.S.A. who co-shared the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physics is known for the development of the theory that atomic nucleus is not always spherical but can also be egg-shaped which has no immediate practical meaning but is extremely essential to scientists.

Ramanna, Dr Raja: former Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre at Trombay. He was one of the Indian scientists associated with staging India’s first nuclear blast at Pokhran on May 18, 1974.

Raman, Sir C.V.: (1888-1970) Eminent Indian Scientist (F.R.S.) National Professor of Physics and founder Director of Raman Research Institute, Bangalore. He was awarded Nobel Prize for his discovery of ‘Raman Effect’ (Feb 28, 1928). His work on study of crystal structure is of unique importance. Feb 28 is celebrated every year as National Science Day.

Ramanujan, Srinivas: (1887-1920) Indian mathematician who contributed to the theory of numbers, theory of partitions, and the theory of continued fractions.

Ramsay, Sir William: (1852-1916) English chemist who discovered helium and later on neon, argon in collaboration with Rayleigh and others. He was awarded Nobel Prize in 1904.Rao, Prof U. Ramachandra: is the Director of Indian Scientific Satellite Project (ISSP) at Peenya near Bangalore.

Ray, Sir P.C.: (1861-1944) founder of Indian Chemical Society and Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceutical Works Ltd., and author of ‘Hindu Chemistry’. His work about nitrous acid and its salts deserves special mention.

Richards, T.W.: He was Prof of Chemistry at Harvard University in U.S.A. He did notable work in the accurate determination of atomic weights and was awarded Nobel Prize in 1916.

Roger Bacon: (1214-1294) He was inventor of Gun Powder and founder of experimental science; man of remarkable gifts and inventive power.

Rontgen, W. Konrad: (1845-1923) German physicist. He discovered X-rays, also called Rontgen rays. He was awarded the first Nobel Prize in 1901 for discovery of X-Rays.

Ross, Ronald: (1857-1932) leading British physician who discovered the cause of Malaria; awarded Nobel Prize for medicine in 1902.

Rutherford, Daniel: (1749-1819) a Scottish scientist who is given the credit for the discovery of nitrogen.

Rutherford, Lord: (1871-1937) won a Nobel Prize for his work on structure of atom and radio-activity.

Ryle, Sir Martin: of the U.K. who shared the 1974 Nobel Prize in Physics is known for the development of “aperture synthesis” technique designed to identify stellar objects through radio signals.

Saha, Dr Meghnad: (1893-1956) late Palit Prof of Physics, University College of Science and Technology, Calcutta University—well known for his researches in nuclear physics, cosmic rays, spectrum analysis and other branches of theoretical physics.

Sanger, Dr Frederik: British scientist awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1958 for his work in determining the composition of the insulin molecule. By his discovery he has put science a step forward towards knowing how disease attacks the human body. In 1980, he became only the fourth person ever to be awarded a second Nobel Prize.

Sarabhai, Dr Vikram A.: former Chairman of India’s Atomic Energy Commission and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) died on December 30, 1971. Dr Sarabhai was an eminent physicist mainly interested in the astrophysical implications of Cosmic Ray Time Variations.

Sen, P.K. (Dr): is the Indian surgeon who performed Asia’s first heart transplant operation in Mumbai.

Simpson, Sir James Young: (1811-70) British physicist who was largely instrumental in the introduction of chloroform as an anaesthetic in 1847.

Soddy, Frederick: (1877-1956) British physical chemist. He was a pioneer of research into atomic disintegration. He coined the term “isotopes”; did classic work on radioactivity.

Solvay, Earnest: (1838-1922) Belgian chemist known for devising a process known after his name for manufacture of sodium carbonate.

Susruta: was a fourth century Hindu surgeon and physician. He wrote an important book on medicine and also a thesis on the medical properties of garlic.

Sutherland, Dr Earl W.: was the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Medicine, 1971. He is credited with the discovery that the hormones in the human body produce another substance known as cyclic A.M.P., which activates them and controls the body’s cells. He has demonstrated that changes in the level of cyclic A.M.P. in the body can influence its disease-resisting capacity. This discovery opens up new vistas for the development of drugs that can treat diseases which have so far been regarded as incurable.

Teller, Edward (Dr): is a U.S. nuclear scientist who has played a major role in developing the hydrogen bomb. He is in fact known as the “father of the H-bomb”.

Thomson, Sir J.J.: (1856-1940) British physicist. He discovered the electron which inaugurated the electrical theory of the atom. He is regarded as the founder of modern physics.

Tsiolkovsky: was a Russian teacher who in 1903 published a treatise presenting remarkably accurate calculations on rocket dynamics and space-travel. He is looked upon as the earliest among the pioneers who laid the foundations of space exploration. The Russians call him the “Father of Rocketry”.

Varahmihira: (505-587) was a distinguished Indian astronomer, mathematician and philosopher. He was one of the nine gems of the court of king Vikramaditya.

Verne, Jules: (1828-1905) French science-fiction writer was author of “From the Earth to the Moon” published in 1865. The book carried a more or less accurate prediction of the launching and flight of Apollo-8.

Volta, A.: (1745-1827) Italian physicist and pioneer of electrical science; invented voltaic pile, the electrophorus and electroscope. The volt is named after him.

Voronoff, S.: Russian scientist best known for his method of preventing or delaying senility by grafting healthy animal glands, into the human body.